


The Universe In Us

by orphan_account



Series: 1,000 Followers Prompts [2]
Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Alternate Universe- Modern Setting - Freeform, Alternate Universe- non magic, Angst, Blind Character, Blind James, F/M, Fluff, Hurt/Comfort, M/M, Memory Loss, Physical Therapy, Pining, Rehabilitation, Slow Burn, Traumatic Brain Injury, coma recovery, past Sirius/Gilderoy
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-02-03
Updated: 2016-02-03
Packaged: 2018-05-17 23:45:17
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,229
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5889733
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/orphan_account
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Waking three years after falling into a coma, Sirius Black has to relearn everything.  Scrambling for memories of what he lost, he struggles to recover the person he once was.  With the help of those he loves most, the pieces begin to fall back into place.</p>
            </blockquote>





	The Universe In Us

**Author's Note:**

> Written for the 1,000 followers prompt request by someone who wanted to remain anon. The prompt was: I'd like something where Sirius wakes up from a coma and doesn't remember he and Remus were together. Also could you include your blind James in it? I don't really have a plot preference. 
> 
> I went with a sort of band!AU, Sirius falling into a coma after a tour bus crash which injured everyone. I did my best to represent TBI, but it was difficult to do and keep it to my word count limit. I almost didn't take this because I wasn't sure I could do anything proper with such a short fic, so I'm sorry if it all seems a bit abrupt.
> 
> I'm posting early because I'll be leaving Friday so I wanted to get something up before next week. Next updates will be possibly Monday or Tuesday, and then likely Friday. Hope you enjoy! x

Waking from a coma wasn’t like you’d see in the movies. Or in the romance novels. In fact, when asked about it years later Sirius couldn’t even entirely recall what it was like waking up. There was a lot of false-starts and a lot of medication. He remembered a lot of crying, because he knew he was supposed to be able to do things like walk and speak and eat, and he couldn’t do any of them. He was angry, and sometimes he just shouted consonants and vowel sounds because it was all he could do.

At some point, things started to sink in. An accident he couldn’t recall. Someone had been drink driving and side-swiped their tour bus right after their London show. It had hit a patch of ice, slid, and rolled. 

Sirius had been a twenty-five year old, semi-famous front person for a rock band when he got on the bus. And when he woke in the bed of the rehabilitation centre, he was a twenty-eight year old, emaciated person barely weighing eight stone.

He hadn’t been allowed to see anyone until his condition was stable. He’d had visitors before, he could remember funny things like sounds, the feeling of a hand in his. Commands, “Lift your finger, Sirius.” He could vaguely remember trying, getting lips pressed against his temple as a reward as he must have accomplished it, though he couldn’t remember that, either.

It was three weeks, and he was speaking now. It was more difficult than before, he really had to think about it, and he’d dissolve into tears at any given moment. But he was starting to stomach food again. Three years though, and it was going to be a process for him to digest anything solid yet. He’d finally managed a trip to the loo on his own, and he wanted to sob that he was so bloody pleased to have a piss on his own.

That’s when they let James in.

The doctor had explained to him the accident hadn’t just injured him. But he had no idea what that meant.

James was there when he woke, and although Sirius’ memories were patchy from the last few years surrounding their career as musicians, he knew he’d never forget James. James Potter, his platonic soulmate, one of the absolute loves of his life. James who had rescued him from his home.

He let out a small noise, and James, whose face had been turned down toward the floor, lifted it up and smiled. “Padfoot?” His voice was a little choked, Sirius noticed. He also noticed James wasn’t looking at him at all. Was he so terrible to look at?

“I…hi.” Sirius licked his lips and felt a wave of exhaustion which he hated because damn it, how could he spend three years sleeping and still be so bloody tired? “When did you. Um. Get here?”

James had obviously been briefed on Sirius’ condition and progress, and he wore a mask of unending patience with Sirius’ slow speech. Reaching out, James rose, his fingers creeping along the top of the bed until they found Sirius’ arm, and he closed his fingers round it.

Sirius was still having trouble processing, but things started to make sense.

James couldn’t see.

“Jamie,” he choked out.

James was shaking his head, tears now falling from his eyes as his hands crept up Sirius’ arm, cupping round his neck, then his jaw. His thumbs rubbed Sirius’ cheeks. “I never…I thought maybe…” James let out a small sob. “Wasn’t sure I’d hear your voice again.”

Sirius felt his throat tighten as he closed too-thin fingers round James’ wrists. “You can’t see me.”

James let out a choked laugh, his head shaking. “No, I can’t.”

“Accident?”

James nodded. “Fraid so.”

“Fuck. Jamie…Jamie,” Sirius muttered.

James was shaking his head again, bringing his face in close and kissing along the side of Sirius’ face and temple. “No. No Pads, I’m alright. It’s alright. You…you’re with us.”

Sirius’ eyes closed against his will and he felt an angry ache in his bones. “Jamie…m’so tired.”

“I know,” James said. “Rest, alright?”

Sirius let out a small laugh, not letting James go in spite of his arms aching. “M’almost thirty now, you know.”

That got a surprised chuckle out of James who moved back slightly. “I do know, love.”

“Is nearly thirty too old for a cuddle?”

“You’re never too old for a cuddle,” James said in a tight voice.

Sirius swallowed and nodded, shifting over as best he could move his body. “Am I still punk rock?”

“You’ll always be punk rock.” James’ hands went out and felt round. “Still attached to tubes and things?”

“Most of them are gone. M’alright,” Sirius said.

James carefully eased himself up, and found himself with an armful of Sirius. Tucking his achingly thin face under James’ chin, he closed his eyes as warm hands stroked up and down his back. “You’re here,” James muttered to himself. “You’re awake. You’re alright.”

Sirius knew James wasn’t talk to him, only assuring himself, and he supposed in a way he could understand. He wondered about the others as he laid there. Wormtail and Moony. What about Harry who’d been just a tiny thing three years ago. And Lily, had she stuck by James during all of this.

“Gilderoy,” Sirius found himself muttering. Gilderoy, his errant, obnoxious boyfriend and Sirius couldn’t remember why they’d been dating, only that they had. As far as he knew. “Were we…are we…?”

James instantly went a bit tense. “Ah. Perhaps we could save that one for later?”

“I don’t want to know, do I?” Sirius muttered against James’ chest. “Alright just…please don’t stop touching me right now. I think…it’s just that I…”

“Wild horses couldn’t tear me away.”

*** 

Sirius got the full story in small clips, as much as he was able to bear it. He knew about the crash. James had also sustained a serious head injury and had laid in a coma for six days before coming out of it with swelling on the brain and cortical damage. He wasn’t completely blind, but he couldn’t see more than light and dark, and general movement. The doctors said his vision could return at any time, but three years, James had stopped wondering and started coping.

Remus had suffered physically. James told Sirius he’d been thrown from the bus, shredded by metal and glass, now covered in scars with limited movement now in his right arm. “He can’t play piano anymore,” James said, and Sirius winced. “He’s alright, though. You know? Got a good book career going right now.”

Sirius couldn’t help but smile at the thought. Remus had always been rather special to him, in a way James and Peter weren’t. Swotty and studious at school, only James, Sirius, and Peter had really been privy to the foul mouth and cold, calculating way Remus thought. But a book career was just like him.

Peter had suffered a shattered hip, and crushed foot, but had recovered fair enough and had, according to James, spent many afternoons a week with Sirius as he slowly came out of his deep coma.

Two weeks after Sirius had gotten the information, he’d seen James, Lily, and Harry. He’d seen Peter, and even Marlene and Dorcas had stopped by several times to see his progress.

The only person who hadn’t come was Remus, and it hurt the worst.

Easing himself into a sitting position, Sirius dragged his hand through his freshly washed hair, not quite over finally getting a proper bath with a proper wash and actually starting to feel somewhat human again. He was getting on in his therapy, and things like words were coming much easier, and his emotional outbursts were lessening.

He’d just come off a physical therapy session for his legs, now able to take a dozen steps nearly on his own, and though he was aching, he felt satisfied. James was there, as he almost always was, sat in the chair beside Sirius’ bed.

“Does he hate me?”

James looked a bit startled. “Does who hate you?”

“Moony.”

There was a slight flinch, then James sighed as he reached out for Sirius’ bed, then climbed on with him. “No. He’s just…this was tough for him, Pads.”

Sirius licked his lips. “Right. Because it wasn’t tough for me. Because I wouldn’t want to have one of my…my…” He let out a growl as he lost the word. “My. My best friends. Best friends with me.” He stopped, knowing he was sounding bitter and petulant. “What about Gilderoy then, eh? You never told me what that fucking wanker got up to. How long did he… he…” He dragged a hand through his hair. “He… pine? Pine away before giving up and getting endlessly shagged?”

James’ face fell. “Look, Sirius…”

“You’re going to have to…have to…” He stopped, not remembering the word, though he could feel it on the tip of his tongue. “To…tell. Tell me at some point, Prongs. They’re going to release me soon and I’m going to find out.”

James reached out, taking Sirius’ hand in his and drew lines round his palm. “He’s never been here to see you. He learnt about the accident from the news, as far as Lily knew. He erm…” Drawing his free hand into his hair, he mussed it. “You sure you want to hear this, love?”

“Yes,” Sirius said.

Blowing out a heavy breath, James turned to face him. It was odd for Sirius, that James’ eyes didn’t meet his anymore, but he took comfort in the touch of James’ hand on his. “He immediately sold your flat, and was attempting to get the rights to your solo music, but Lily was able to stop him before he could do that. There was a … a legal battle.”

Sirius blinked. “Legal battle over my music?”

“Over keeping you alive,” James said in a low voice. “I was listed as your next of kin, but he attempted to use Bella to gain the rights to you, to have them stop your feed.”

Sirius felt something cold wash over him. “He what?”

“We were able to stop him. Obviously. You had come out of the deep coma and you showed signs of progressing, so the courts wouldn’t allow it. With the doctor recommendation and everything. We were able to lock him out of your accounts.”

“Jesus,” Sirius breathed. “Jesus Christ.”

“M’so sorry love,” James said, and tugged him over.

Sirius came easily, resting the side of his face on James’ shoulder. “Fuck him.”

James let out a slightly wet laugh and drew his fingers into Sirius’ hair. “I’d have fought for you. They’d have to kill me first, you know. Me and Moony. He…was deranged about the whole thing.”

Sirius felt his gut twist. “And yet he’s not… not…” He frowned. “Not here.”

“He will be. He just needs to…he needs time. He’s not been the same since the coma, Sirius. You were…you _are_ one of the most important people to him. He’s coming to terms with not losing you.” James sighed. “But he never gave up on you, you know.”

Sirius blinked and felt tears threatening to fall. “I can’t believe I ever…I ever…” He groped for the word a moment. “Shagged. I ever shagged someone like Gilderoy. What a fucking twat.”

James laughed again and hugged him tight. “He is that. He is absolutely that.”

*** 

A week later Sirius woke to something strange. Something very strange. A very familiar feeling of a small body next to his, a tiny hand on his face. For a second, his brain tried to process. “Harry?” he muttered before his eyes opened.

The tiny child in the bed was not Harry at all. He stared at wide, amber eyes and a mop of messy curls that were a direct twin to someone Sirius missed very much. But they were attached to a very small, round, chubby-cheeked little toddler who was giving Sirius a very toothy grin. The tiny hand was on his cheek, stroking.

“Hi Pada.”

Sirius swallowed. “Erm.”

The toddler giggled and kicked his feet a little before leaning over and pressing a very wet, open-mouthed kiss to Sirius cheek. “Pada wake now.”

A moment later, an achingly familiar body appeared in the doorway, looking both very nervous and very exasperated. “Teddy,” Remus groaned, approaching the bed. He reached his hands out, then hesitated and held them back. “Er. Sirius, I’m sorry. I turned away for only a second.”

Sirius blinked, attempting to sit up, and the toddler came with him, curling into his lap. “Baby?”

Remus’ face twitched, his eyes suspiciously bright. “Yeah. Mine. He’s called Teddy.”

“I...but…” Sirius was having trouble processing all of this. Three years he’d slept, and Remus had what? Moved on? Got married? Clearly made a baby with someone.

With a sigh, Remus finally reached out and plucked the boy from Sirius’ lap, and sat on the chair. “James threatened to punch me if I didn’t come down here to see you. I wanted to come alone but Nym’s out of the country.”

“Nym,” Sirius repeated. 

“Nymphadora.”

“My cousin.”

Remus nodded. “This was so not how I wanted things to go. Fuck. I…fuck.” He put his hand over his face and Sirius almost laughed because Remus was just as adorable as he’d remembered. Remus, the bandmate and best friend he’d pined over for years and years, but Remus had never showed interest in him and why ruin a good thing? But he’d missed him so bloody much. 

“Married?” Sirius asked, finding he still wasn’t capable of more than one or two words.

Remus laughed, looking shocked. “God. No, Sirius no I…it was…we got pissed. You were…” He cleared his throat. “I wasn’t thinking and she wasn’t thinking and we were sad and drunk and this happened. He’s a sweet boy. I would always bring him, you’d always react best to him and Harry, you know? Got you to smile a few times.”

Sirius looked at the small boy and felt a wash of familiarity at him. At his smell and the tiny sound of his voice. The feel of his small hand. After a moment, the tears came. After waking, there wasn’t any warning when he’d be hit with an emotional outburst. Sometimes he’d be angry, shouting, and unable to remember it happening afterward. With the tears, it just snuck up on him and the sobs burst forth without any way to stop them.

Remus looked instantly worried, but the little boy clambered out of his lap and back onto the bed, latching his arms round Sirius’ neck before Remus could stop him. “Isss awite, Pada.”

Sirius felt his throat thicker as he hugged this child who knew him, but he hadn’t had the chance to see grow into this tiny human. He felt bitterness creeping up in his bones at the person who’d hit them. At how their lives had all been irrevocably changed and they’d all become people they hadn’t meant to be.

Through the waves of tears, Sirius watched Remus use his good arm to send a text before he got up and perched on the end of the bed. “You want me to take him?”

Sniffling, Sirius swiped the back of his hand under his nose, and shook his head as he hugged the boy back. “It feels…feels…” He growled, unable to find the word for a moment. “Nice. Feels nice,” he finally said.

Remus’ face softened. “He’s pretty good at cuddles, you know.”

“Takes after you, then?”

Remus laughed as they sat in relative silence. Eventually Teddy moved away from the hug, but stayed firmly planted on Sirius lap until he started to get sleepy. Laying back, Sirius’ eyes were drifting, and Teddy was holding on, twisting his little fingers in Sirius’ hair and sucking on his thumb.

Just as Sirius was properly drifting, the cuddles with the toddler, Remus’ warm hand resting on his lower back, the door to his room opened and James walked in, holding Lily’s arm. Teddy immediately perked up as he saw them walk in.

“Hi!” he cried, holding up his arms. “Prongs, up!”

James chuckled as he let go of Lily, finding the bed easily, and held his hands out for Teddy. “Hi there, Mini Moony. Are you being a good boy? Did you have a nice visit with your Pada?”

“Pada wake now,” Teddy said as he nestled his face into the crook of James’ neck.

Lily walked over, smiling down at Sirius as she brushed a lock of hair away from his forehead. “Hey love, you look tired.”

“Mm, just a little,” Sirius muttered. In spite of the raging emotions and fatigue, and feeling like he would spend the rest of his life recovering, it warmed him to see the people he loved most together like this. Like a family. He hadn’t had a chance to properly talk with Remus at all, to find out what had happened, what had kept him. But he was here now and that mattered.

“Well Moony wanted to say with you tonight,” James said, reaching one hand out for Sirius’. Their fingers locked together. “That alright?”

Sirius’ sleepy eyes flickered over to Remus. “You want to? Because you don’t have to.”

Remus laughed. “I’ve spent the last three years begging every god I could think of to wake you up. So yes, Padfoot. I want to.”

Sirius licked his lips, then leant up so he could kiss James’ hand before falling back down. His body was weak from the stress of the day, but he was happy. “Alright.”

“I’ll come by in the morning,” Remus said, standing up to give Teddy a kiss. “And you play nice with Harry, alright? And behave for your auntie and uncle.”

“Okay daddy,” Teddy said, and gave Remus another kiss before James and Lily ambled off.

When the door to the room shut, Remus looked over at Sirius. “Is it alright if I…?”

“Get comfortable, Moony,” Sirius ordered.

Remus laughed, then stripped into his t-shirt and boxers, sliding under the covers as Sirius made room for him. He used the button on the side of the bed to dim the lights, and together they rested against his pillows.

Turning to face his friend more fully, Sirius let his thin fingers wander out, tracing along the thick, shining scars that now adorned Remus’ dimpled cheeks. “M’so sorry, Moons.”

“It’s alright,” Remus said quietly, pressing his palm against the back of Sirius’ hand. “It stopped bothering me ages ago. I told the universe it could take anything it wanted from me, so long as it brought you back.”

Sirius licked his lips. “I’m so…I want…I want…I want…” He couldn’t find the word, and suddenly rage began to well up in his belly. He let out a distressed, angry whine in the back of his throat, but it was immediately quelled by Remus’ soft palm cupping his cheek.

“It’s alright, Padfoot. It’s alright. You don’t need to talk. Just…just let me hold you, okay?”

Sirius nodded, squeezing his eyes shut as Remus’ good arm came round him and drew him close. With a tight squeeze, Remus feathered kisses along Sirius’ cheek and temple, reverently and gratefully, and Sirius began to let himself succumb to sleep.

“…so glad you’re still with me. I didn’t want to go on without you.” Remus’ final words lulled him into the darkness.

*** 

“Is your hand alright for it?” Sirius asked as he perched between the V in Remus’ legs.

With a soft laugh, Remus ran his fingers into Sirius’ hair. “It’s fine. My fingers function, I just can’t move my shoulder up to high or from side to side much. I’m perfectly alright to plait your hair.”

Sirius let himself lean back into Remus’ touch. It was something Remus used to do for him at school, and also on the road—Sirius recalled. The touring was still spotty, the memories hazy like long-forgotten dreams, but more things were piecing back together, and he felt content with his Moony there.

Remus hummed under his breath, an old tune they used to play together as his fingers twisted through Sirius’ long hair. 

“Do you sing to Teddy?”

Remus froze a moment. “I do. Not all the time, but it used to soothe him when he was little and fussy.”

Sirius laughed. “It’s weird to think of you as a…as a…” His brow furrowed as he fumbled for the word. Remus was patient as ever, letting him get to it. “Parent,” Sirius supplied. “Dad. Weird to think of you as a dad.”

With a chuckle, Remus tugged a little on Sirius’ hair. “No weirder than Prongs, eh.”

“James has always been baby mad,” Sirius said, waving his hand, and pleased to note his arms had begun to fill out a little more. He no longer looked emaciated, and his therapy was rebuilding muscle quickly. His steps were still shaky, but getting better. “I’m um…I’m being…being…” He took a slow breath as he groped for the word. “Released. I’m being released. But don’t have a home.”

“I know,” Remus said quietly. “I wanted to ask you if you’d like to stay with me.”

“You and Teddy?” Sirius twisted in Remus’ grasp as Remus put the bobble at the end of the plait.

Remus shrugged. “Teddy’s only there half the time. Other half he’s with Nym. I’d like it though. You shouldn’t be alone right now, and honestly, I’m not sure I want you very far from me.”

Sirius’ brow furrowed again. “But you didn’t…didn’t…” He swallowed. “It took you a long time to see me. You didn’t…” He let out a frustrated growl and grasped hard. “Didn’t visit. For a long time.”

Remus ran his hand down his face and sighed. “I know. I’m sorry. I was afraid that I’d get here and you’d slip back or something would go wrong and I wasn’t sure I could take it. It was selfish.”

Sirius shook his head and reached out, cupping Remus’ cheek. “I won’t be a bother?”

“Never. You could never be a bother.”

*** 

Sirius agreed to stay with Remus, but there was something niggling at the back of his mind. Something he felt like he was missing, but he couldn’t put his finger on it. And occasionally Remus would look at him like he knew something, but he wasn’t saying and it was driving Sirius mad.

He didn’t give into it, though. Perhaps it was nothing, just the leftover effects of the brain injury he was assured was getting better, and would continue to get better as the weeks went on. For being in a coma as long as he was, the damage to his brain was fairly minimal.

The mood swings might last, and the memory problems. He was told he may never regain what was lost, and it was possible he’d have issues with motor function or speech, but he knew he could be much worse off. Everyone had suffered, and he learnt just before he was released, the driver who hit them had died.

No one walked away cleanly. 

Remus’ flat was on the first floor, and there was a lift which made it easy to access for Sirius. James and Lily were there to help him get settled, and because Sirius only slept better with someone close by, being touched, it was unspoken that he would be sharing a bed with Remus. No one minded, and James even looked a bit smug about it—but Sirius reckoned he likely knew Sirius had fancied their friend since school.

“I’ll be visiting all the time,” James said, cupping Sirius cheek gently. “You haven’t got rid of me so easily.”

Sirius buried his face in James’ neck and held him tight. “Wasn’t trying, mate. I’m just glad to be home.”

“Mm, home,” James said with a grin, and pulled back. “You’ve no idea how good it is to hear you say that. See you tomorrow?”

“Yeah,” Sirius said. He gave Lily a hug and a kiss, then one to Harry who was wary but excited to see his godfather up and moving instead of lying in a bed. Then they were gone, and it was just Sirius and Remus to sort out tea—soup as Sirius was still adjusting to proper foods, and they decided to have a film marathon on the sofa with a fluffy duvet and a fire going.

“Do I seem…off to you?” Sirius asked a little while into one of the films.

Remus blinked. “I suppose in a way. You lost three years, Sirius. It’ll take time to get everything back.”

“And if nothing comes back?”

Remus took Sirius’ hand in his, gently playing with his fingers. “Then you build from here. You start now.”

Sirius swallowed, then carefully looked at Remus, choosing his words with slow, deliberate care. “I think you’re not telling me something.”

The flinch in Remus’ face told Sirius all he needed to know. “Sirius I…”

“Please, Moony,” Sirius begged. “I don’t…I don’t…” He let out a frustrated sigh as he groped for the words. “This is hard…hard enough and you know. So please. What am I missing?”

Remus looked away. “The night of the accident,” he said slowly, then stopped. “I haven’t told James or Peter about it. You were pissed and furious with Gilderoy. You caught him with one of the lighting blokes in the broom cupboard behind the stage.”

Sirius blinked. He couldn’t remember, but the story brought a sense of familiarity. “Alright,” he said.

“I was already on the bus, and you came in with a bottle of whiskey already part gone. You said you were upset because you weren’t more upset. Said you knew it would never work out with him and hated that you’d wasted any of your time on him.”

“Proved me right, didn’t he?” Sirius asked, his wry smile showing a glimpse of his former personality.

Remus laughed. “He did. You told me you’d split up with him, and then…then you…” Remus stopped and swallowed thickly.

“I what, Moony?”

Remus looked away. “You kissed me.”

Sirius flinched, pulling back. “Oh. I…oh. I’m sorry.”

Remus shook his head. “I wasn’t upset. We…it lasted a while. You told me you were in love with me and I…I told you I had been with you for some time. We got off with each other in the bathroom, then agreed to wait and tell the others after the tour. You said you wanted to wait until the break-up with Gildeory lost some steam before announcing you were moving on to someone else.”

Sirius blinked, feeling tears in his eyes as Remus took his hand again. “Ah. So we…so you…you…”

Remus didn’t wait for Sirius to find the words as he curled his fingers round Remus’. “I do. I have for bloody ages. And I couldn’t believe you were almost taken away from me that night. I’d waited years, and suddenly you were lying in a bloody coma and they told me you might not ever wake up. The night Nym and I…” He cleared his throat and shrugged. “You’d crashed, your heart kept stopping and they couldn’t control the swelling in your brain. They made us all go home to wait for the call, and I couldn’t take it. I don’t regret it, I got Teddy out of the whole thing but…it was the worst night of my life.”

“Moony,” Sirius whispered, reaching up to palm him cheek. He drew him closer, wanting to be near, a feeling like he wanted to crawl under Remus’ skin and just live there. “I don’t remember that. I don’t remember a lot, but I do remember I have loved you half my life.”

Remus’ eyelids fluttered closed as he pushed his nose into Sirius’ cheek. “I don’t want you to rush into anything. It’s only been a few weeks since you’ve woken up. I don’t want you to…to feel like you need to be with me.”

Sirius let out a low chuckle and cupped Remus by the chin. “It’ll be ages before I’m ready for anything proper, but the accident didn’t change anything. You’ve always been my Moony and you always will. If you’d still have me.”

Remus looked like he wanted to cry, but instead he nodded and gently pressed a dry kiss to Sirius’ lips. “Sirius, I’ve always been yours. And I always will be.”

*** 

**Six Months Later**

Remus peered into the bathroom and saw Sirius stood at the sink. “Teddy asleep?”

Sirius grinned, looking over at his lover. “Mm, drifted right off after that book with the dragons. He’s so bloody smart, Moons. It’s...like you took all the cleverness you acquired all these years and put them right into his little three year old body.”

Remus laughed as he stepped into the small room. “It scares me sometimes, you know? But I think he’s got the Black Family cleverness and I’m afraid what a terror he’s going to become when he discovers the joys of pranking.”

“Boy after my own heart.” Sirius grinned, then turned back to the sink where his smile drifted into a frown. He was meant to be brushing his teeth, but nothing was connecting. His hands curled into fists and his arms began to shake.

Remus noticed instantly, and came round from behind him, wrapping his hands round Sirius’ waist. “Love?”

“Teeth,” Sirius said, taking slow breaths and counting to ten.

“You want me to help you, or walk you through it?”

These cognitive moments happened fewer and fewer these days, but they were never entirely gone. Not even with his intensive therapy. “Walk me through it?”

“Alright, what do you need for your teeth, my love?”

Sirius licked his lips. “Toothpaste. And…water. Toothbrush.”

“In that order?” 

A hesitant hand crept across the counter, grabbing the toothbrush from the rack. The toothpaste was next, and by the time he got it on the bristles, he was relaxing into Remus’ grasp.

“Clever you,” Remus whispered into his ear.

Sirius had once been so angry when Remus would praise him for such simple tasks, convinced he was being patronised. But now he merely smiled and continued his task, basking in the feeling of Remus holding him.

Before long, they were curling up in bed together, mouths trading soft kisses, hands careful and gentle as they held each other close. Sirius pressed his forehead right up against his lover’s, and closed his eyes. “You know how much I love you?”

Remus hummed a happy noise as he tugged him closer. “A lot?”

“More than,” Sirius whispered. “More than the known universe.”

“That is an awful lot,” Remus remarked. “I love you just the same, you know. And maybe a little more.”

Sirius rolled his eyes as he kissed him on the tip of his adorably large nose. “Not possible. But I’ll agree to a tie.”

“Deal,” Remus said.

Together they drifted off, and Sirius knew he’d been brought back for a reason. For this. For everything he knew that could make them both happy.


End file.
